


Things That Go Bump In The Night

by MindKnox



Series: The Book Of Turbulence [3]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game), Life Is Strange 2 (Video Game), Night In The Woods (Video Game), Oxenfree (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Beaver Creek, Blood and Violence, Camping, Dreams and Nightmares, Gen, Horror, Mystery, Post-Canon, Post-Parting Ways Ending, Post-Save Chloe Price Ending, References to Control (Video Game), Sleepovers, Supernatural Elements, Superpowers, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25733149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MindKnox/pseuds/MindKnox
Summary: We all dream. And with a crazier world emerging every other day, dreams can seem realer and realer.With those dreams come nightmares - those demons of the unconscious mind. Soon, they too will manifest into reality.
Relationships: Daniel Diaz & Chris Eriksen, Daniel Diaz & Lyla Park, Hannah & Jacob & Penny (Life is Strange 2), Jacob "Jake" Hackerman & Sarah Lee Hackerman, Maxine "Max" Caulfield & Daniel Diaz & Chloe Price, Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price
Series: The Book Of Turbulence [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863685
Kudos: 3





	1. Sarah Lee and the Drifters: Sailing Among Starry Skies

She dreams of flying, with feathered wings of a rainbow hue. Past the people, through the clouds. Past their trivial conflicts into a brighter future. She knows of heroes, and she aspires to be like them. But like those heroes, she has known pain, loss, and suffering.

She knows of enemies and hatred. The Reverend Mother may be gone without a trace, but further evil lurks in the shadows of our existence; Schoolyard bullies. Streetside criminals. Bigots of all creeds. And the demons beyond. The demons she has seen in her dreams.

As she flies over the world, shadow monsters of unknown origin - perhaps prehistoric - lunge at her from the waters. They grasp at her to bring her down, into the seemingly unending oceans covering much of the Earth.

They drown her, with all the other creatures under the seas who hide beyond sight. They do not kill her, as she wakes before death takes hold, but they are set on their mission. They are intent on keeping her under the blackened seas, down to the Sunken City where hope dies and fear settles in.

She hears the darkness speak, in its mechanical and heartless voice:

“ _ Foolish girl. There is no hope. _ ”

“ _ Leave isn’t possible. _ ”

And yet, she sees the Sun. Surrounded by an unending darkness that spans universes, it burns bright. It pierces through the sea and watches her.

She knows she’ll reach it someday. She just has to have faith, and fly.

* * *

The campfire is dim against the dark of the night as the three Drifters - Penny, Hannah, Jacob - sit around and plan their next move. But the Guest of Honor - Sarah Lee - rises from her sleep. She steps out of the tent she shares with her big brother, and looks around. Her eyes slowly adjust to the darkness, but she fixates on the fire and the trio sitting around it.

Jacob notices her and asks, curious as to what she’s doing up at this time, “Hey, sis! You’re okay?”

“I’m fine. Just up early.”, Sarah explains with a yawn, itching at her scalp. “What are you guys doing?”

Penny shrugs her shoulders and tells her coolly, “Talking. Planning.”

Jacob pulls out his phone from his pocket and checks the time.  _ 3:02 AM _ . “Wow! Did you even sleep at all?”

“I slept! But I’m awake now.”

Hannah lets out a chuckle, understanding the struggle. “We’re just talking about our next stop.” She holds a phone full of information on the screen.

“Can I join in?”

Hannah nods her head, “Sure. Come on, have a seat.” She points to an empty pink lounge chair, one that Sarah Lee had left behind before going to bed, and the young girl takes a seat. “I’m sure you’ve figured out where we’re going next.” Penny pulls out a series of printed maps, all showing the directions to Beaver Creek, just a few short miles northwest from their current encampment. “It’s supposed to be nice out for the next two weeks. And there’s a beach, and a campground too.”

“Plus, Daniel’s there! We could do a surprise visit!”

Hannah nods her head before telling him, “Right on, Penny.” A small smile crosses her mouth, illuminated by the light, as she remembers the boy.  _ To think, three and a half years since Humboldt. _

“I do remember”, Jacob points out, “Cassidy and Finn saying they came in the Winter. Said it wasn’t great. I mean, seeing Daniel’ll be nice but… I don’t know.”

Hannah rolls her eyes and answers, “Obviously. Shit’s never fun in the Winter.”

A rustle from the bushes sounds in the group’s ears. Hannah rises to her feet and asks, “Who’s that?” Penny rises to his feet to follow Hannah, as she begins walking over.

Jacob holds his sister’s hand. “Stay here, Sarah Lee.”

The duo approach the bushes, forcing the creature within to make a move.

It’s a possum. Scared out of it’s wits, and squealing into the night.

But beyond the bushes, light from a lantern glows by the river. An old sailor, with an Admiral’s uniform dating back to perhaps World War II, sits still in his boat as if to listen for the creatures of the night, or for a sign they’ve given him.

Instead, he hears Penny ask him a question: “Can we help you?”

The Admiral speaks with a distorted tongue, like a hundred voices asking the same request at once. “Excuses. Me. Looking. For. Beaver Creek.”

“Ah, we’re headed there too. It’s about, uh, up North. Not too far away from here.”

“Thanks.” The Admiral focuses on him and Hannah, as if to know them better on an internal level. But it doesn’t find much. “We shall. Be. Going.”

Hannah notices his stilted stance and speaking pattern. She asks, a tad worried for this stranger, “You’ve got friends? You’re not alone.”

The Admiral looks to the starry night sky above. “I follow the Beasts. They know the way.”

Both Penny and Hannah look at each other in absolute confusion. “Er… Okay.” And they both make their way back to the encampment, as the Admiral begins to row onward to Beaver Creek.

“Who was it?”, Jacob asks upon seeing his friends’ return.

Penny answers, “Some sea captain. Guess he got lost.”

Sarah Lee can only laugh at the ridiculousness of that statement, and her friends join in softly. They agree, no doubt about it. She sets her sights up to the sky. She too sees the shimmering lights amidst the darkness. “The stars look so pretty tonight.”

Jacob nods his head a little and adds, “Yeah. I guess they do.”

But little do they know, the sky is blackened and the trees are haunted. Not by the night, but by gargantuan demons made of tar. In the sky, they take the shape of prehistoric whales and dolphins, while on the ground, they resemble saber-toothed tigers.

And they are marching to their prey.

On the river, the Admiral follows with crimson eyes set on the creatures’ united trail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It should be said that I got the idea of Sarah Lee getting really cool wings from an amazing piece of LiS2 fanart created by Kissun13 on Tumblr. Check out their stuff, it's very good!
> 
> Link: https://baby-prince-oppa.tumblr.com/post/190960348695/it-is-official-youre-now-a-fully-fledged-member


	2. Lyla Park and the Spirit Squad: The Menace of Mantroid

She can’t sleep very well. Maybe it’s the pills, mixed with the schoolwork on her mind that still has to be done. And maybe it’s that this sleepover is missing a very special someone. Tall, shaggy, has an eye for drawing (also literally one eye), and lives all the way in Mexico. She misses him more than almost anything. But at least he’s happy, and at least he’s alive. And at least the world goes on.

But when she does dream, she sees him clear as day. While paying a visit to Puerto Lobos, under that burning hot sun, she can see her friend looking out at the ocean with a smile on his face. He’s alone at the moment, with his partner elsewhere at the moment, but he’s waiting for her. He’s been waiting for three years now, as has she.

She dashes after him, kicking up a sandstorm behind her in her ecstatic glee.

And sure enough, she reaches him. She wraps him up in a hug, and lets those happy tears roll down her face.

* * *

Lyla sighs before wiping away the tears on her face. Mexico’s a million miles away, it feels like, from Seattle. And it feels equally as far from Beaver Creek.

_ Why am I up this early?! _ , she asks herself as she sees  _ 3:35 AM _ on the digital clock by her bed. Or rather, it’s Daniel’s bed offered to her - the guest - by Claire and Stephen. He’s busy downstairs, playing videogames with Chris.

She rises from the bed, not bothering to fix it. She knows she’ll be back in a few minutes or so. It doesn’t even take too long to adjust to the darkness either as she walks out of the room, past the awesome miniature train town, and carefully down the stairs.

The dynamic duo downstairs are zombies in their current playstyles, barely traversing the map of their game as they too have fallen asleep. Lyla looks over at them with a smile and a soft giggle.

But unbeknownst to her, an intruder is in the house. One not of an earthly origin. Hiding in the shadows, despite his clunky form and colorful armor, is the dreaded Mantroid: archnemesis of Captain Spirit!

Lyla fails to notice him as it isn’t his time for a dramatic reveal. “No matter…” he says to himself. “Soon, revenge will be mine. And then, it’ll be showtime for my mistress.”

Now, Lyla notices him. “Who said that?!”, she demands in a tone quiet enough to express her rage and to avoid waking up the two boys immediately, should this not be an emergency.

“Uh… Nobody.”, says Mantroid from the shadows. But of course, Lyla can see him well enough to know that this ‘nobody’ is in fact somebody. So he steps out of the shadows, letting his armor shine in the dull moonlight bleeding into the house. His armor - red with accents of black - coats his body, and a skull masks his face in shadow.

Despite his odd appearance, Lyla feels a cold chill run through her veins. “Please don’t hurt us.”, she begs quietly. She keeps Daniel and Chris in her sights, knowing that if worse comes to worse, she’d rather get hurt than let either of them take the brunt of this supervillain’s wrath.

Mantroid sets the record straight: “I’m not here to hurt you, Terran girl. I’m here for Captain Spirit, my sole rival!”

Lyla’s eyes dart around in confusion, as well as in search of a weapon she can use against him. “I don’t think I know any ‘Captain Spirits’.”

Mantroid glares at Chris, and carefully, quietly steps towards him. “I do. He sits right there. Weak. Vulnerable. Helpless.” He even points at the boy, knowing his target well.

“I dunno, he doesn’t really look like a Captain.”, Lyla adds. She’s nervous, and she hasn’t a clue what to do.

“It is his secret identity. But he cannot hide from me, for he CREATED me. He brought me into existence, to serve as his foil. Selfish boy, had he not considered what I wanted?”

Lyla soon grows tired of Mantroid’s talking. “Look, just go. Please. Or I’ll call the cops.”

“You won’t be doing much of that.” Tired of hesitation, he suddenly picks up Chris by his torso and glares at him. He’s out of it, which is perfect for what Mantroid has planned. “Time to die… Captain Spirit.”

The voice of a woman, seated by the front entrance to the house, says to the villain, “Sheesh, Mantroid. Killing kids? Let’s have some standards here.” Lyla looks over and sees a meek teenager, about her own age or younger, dressed in a gray hoodie and generic jeans. “But then again, who am I to talk?” A smile, sinister in nature, forms on her freckled face.

Mantroid pleads to the younger woman, “He is my nemesis! He won’t even know what hit him.” He laughs, perhaps a bit louder than he really should, to mock Chris’ current predicament. “Dying in a dream. Imagine that.”

The Nightmare Woman rolls her eyes and tells Mantroid, “I can. But… Why kill him now when you can torment him later, along with all the other wretched souls in this dump of a town?” “Come now. Let the Black Goat do what she must first. The Dreamer awaits.”

“What the Hell?”, asks Daniel in a tired tone. He looks at the villains before him, and knows what he must do.

The Nightmare Woman demands of him, “Go to sleep, chi-” Before she can finish that sentence, she feels an invisible chokehold on her. She is lifted into the air, and she starts shouting, “Crap! Mantroid! Help!”

Mantroid swiftly drops Chris, though Lyla catches him, so that he can toss a fist in Daniel’s direction. Fortunately, he stops the fist with his telekinetic will, and tosses the Nightmare Woman through the front door so that he can focus on the villain-made-real.

“You must be the Superwolf. Your adventures have been noticed, boy! Now, let us capture your last story in BLOOD!” Mantroid quickly begins punching at Daniel’s invisible defenses. They can’t be seen, but they are being broken, much to Mantroid’s delight.

As she holds Chris tenderly so as to not wake him up, Lyla looks up at the Nightmare Woman and asks her, “Who are you?”

“I am the Storm.” Suddenly, she manifests a polaroid camera from nothing and aims it at the two. “Let’s get to know each other better.”

_ SNAP. _ They’re both gone in a flash, to some other world far from here. One of dreams and nightmares.  _ Home. _

Daniel calls out, “Lyla!”. It serves Mantroid well, as he takes this opening to sucker punch the boy. He falls to the ground, almost unconscious.

The Nightmare Woman offers an applause before tiredly asking Mantroid, “Can we go now?” The two dash away in the blink of an eye, which Daniel barely sees. He rises to his feet, battling the pain he’s feeling.  _ I’ve survived worse. _ But he hasn’t. Not yet.

A violent gust of wind knocks him on his back, and he can feel… something surging in the air, like electricity. On instinct, he places a field around himself before pain can come. It protects him from the coming light, blinding and searing. It consumes the house, and as far as Daniel can tell, the whole of Beaver Creek. But not him. He’s safe in the forcefield.

Once the light passes and the night reclaims its glory, Daniel knows something has just gone horribly wrong. The air feels still. The town, and the few miles around it, empty. Save for Daniel. Alone, again, in this barren town almost untouched by the light and fire which just consumed it.


	3. Pricefield and Superwolf vs. the Dream Demons: What Power and Pain Entail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of a content warning: This is where the "Blood and Violence" and "Temporary Character Death" tags kick in. But trust me, that "Temporary" is very accurate. It's not like she's even gone!
> 
> Whoops, I said too much! Enjoy!

Spotlights gaze upon the empty town, searching for any signs of life. But they find none. No humans, nor animals, spotted whatsoever.

The media has been kept in the dark so as to not trigger panic, but that will only last so long. _About an hour and a half_ , according to Agent Max Caulfield. She and her girlfriend/partner in time, Agent Chloe Price, must act fast.

With a smile on her face, Max answers to Agent Maria Elena Flores over the phone, “We’ve got this. Trust us here.”

“I’m sure I can. But time can be really fickle when it comes to entire population centers blinking out of existence in the middle of the night. Director Faden definitely has her doubts here at HQ.”

“Like Dad says, ‘wouldn’t be our first rodeo’ dealing with disaster.”

A laugh escapes Max’s mouth. “He does not say that, Chloe.”

“Does too. You’ve heard him.”, Chloe claims with a raised eyebrow and a barely-restrained smile. “Sorry, Agent Flores. So the mission…”

“Reach the Beaver Creek Hospital and make contact with the target. We believe him to be a John Doe; old, white, skinny. Looks like he’s been asleep for over a decade. Try and talk to him, contain him, bring him in without a fuss. If not… then kill him.”

“We’re on it, boss.”

“Good luck.”, Maria says before hanging up.

Max and Chloe step down onto Beaver Creek and feel the cold shiver in the air. Odd for an mid-September night such as this. They figure it must be the ghosts of what was once a town of approximately eight hundred people.

Suddenly, as they walk down an empty road leading into the town square, they see a woman standing in front of a house. Their hair is blonde and black - conjoined in a striped pattern - with their gray dress fluttering in the wind.

Chloe pulls out her pistol and aims at the stranger. “Hands where we can see them.”

The woman - or rather, the Chimera - turns around and lets a smile grow on their face as they jokingly rubs their eyes. “Do our eyes deceive us? It’s the two lovebirds!” They wave at Max and Chloe, remembering them fondly despite their past differences.

Chloe lowers her gun, though still keeping it in hand, and asks, “You know us?”

The Chimera chuckles, “Uh, duh! God, we need to catch up on a lot.” While Chloe is still unaware, Max knows both women well. Classmates of hers from Blackwell. This is further confirmed with their question: “Say, where’s Victoria? We highly doubt she’s here.”

Max quickly answers, “Seattle. At her gallery. Hurry.”

“We figured! Thanks!” They phase through the ground, and leave the scene with a faithful smile.

“Who was she?”, Chloe asks as she puts her gun away.

Max tells, “Old friends of ours. Come on, let’s blast.” They run into the house, seeing that the Chimera was so interested in it themselves.

It is quiet and eerie, which is to be expected. But there is life; with worried breathing, Daniel lays on the couch in the living room. Slowly, Max approaches him. “Are you alright, kid?”

Daniel looks up at the two girls and asks, “Who are you?”

They pull out their badges and answer him in unison: “Max Caulfield and Chloe Price. Agents of the Federal Bureau of Control.”

Chloe clarifies upon seeing the confusion on Daniel’s face: “It’s kinda like the FBI, but way cooler.”

The confusion only grows, slowly being replaced by fear. He slowly starts raising his hands, telling them, “Look, I didn’t do this. I promise-”

Max shakes her head gently while also placing a hand on his shoulder, “We know. We’re not here to arrest you. We’re here to help. What happened?”

“One of Chris’ imaginary friends… I think. He got out of his head? Then…” _This Max shares the same freckled face as the Nightmare Woman…_ , Daniel thinks to himself. _Maybe a bit older, granted. No, she is the Nightmare Woman!_ “YOU! Where did you take Lyla?!”

As objects around the house start to levitate, Chloe grows nervous. She tells Daniel, “Dude, stay calm. We’re not the enemy. We want to help you.”

“You used a camera, and y-you kidnapped them both!”

Max tells him truthfully, “That wasn’t me, Daniel. I promise! Neither of us want to hurt you!”

“How do you know my name?!”

A smile appears on Max’s face, hopefully to disarm Daniel’s fears. “I have superpowers. Just like you. You’re not alone.”

The objects that were just levitating seconds earlier fall, and the boy eases his breathing. Still, he is afraid. “What is happening?!”

Max answers, “Dream demons. Nightmares. Depressive thoughts made real.”

Daniel’s shoulders drop in frustration at that revelation. “This sounds ridiculous.”

Max and Chloe both share a laugh, agreeing wholesale with him. “Believe me, it is. But we have to stop it. What else happened?”

“There were two of them. Chris’ imaginary enemy, Mantroid, and uh… Not-You. They ran outside, and then a big wall of light came!”

Max cups her chin inquisitively, thinking over the details. She and Chloe know it was the Hospital, and Daniel knew of the danger from ground zero. This gives her and Chloe a brilliant idea: “Wanna help us save your friends?” A smile manifests on Daniel’s face, and he nods his head. “Then let’s go.”

* * *

It was raining, and it was pouring when The Old Man went to bed in ‘08. He got into bed, yet didn’t bump his head.

He merely slept, comatose without a hope of waking up. For twelve years straight. His family, for the longest, feared him dead.

Still, what was awakened in him at the start of his coma was grander. In his time of rest - those long twelve years - he had seen what the rest of the world saw when they too laid their bodies to rest at their tiredest moments.

Every dream the collective of mankind has had is one he’s in; an observer on some nights and an active force on others. Much of it is good, and much of it is bad. He is omniscience and omnipresence in the unconscious mind, seeing the Earth and its trillion inhabitants dream without arbitrary morals on a human scale of right and wrong.

But not only did he see our unconscious truths, fears and desires. He saw beyond it. He saw the land where dreams are born. The Astral Plane, where the mind is the utmost limit. Where old ghosts roam again and the horizon is unending.

It only makes sense that he is the most fitting candidate for the Black Goat’s reign. He will be her vessel, the monolith for which her forces will ascend to the Earth and tear it asunder.

He will manifest revelations upon the polluted lands of humanity, all in her name.

_Praise be to the Black Goat, and the glory her followers shall bring with them._

That is if he isn’t either saved… or stopped.

* * *

Max, Chloe and Daniel arrive on the scene of the Beaver Creek Hospital, a homely building in the Town Square. Again, no signs of life. No survivors and no dead. Just silence under the fading moonlight.

It is in the Psych Ward where their prize awaits. Sitting in his bed is the Old Man, awake and afraid.

“Sir. Please remain calm.”, says Max as she slowly approaches him. Hiding around the corner, Chloe and Daniel prepare for some action should it all go to shit.

The Old Man quivers, eyelids ringed in blackness and dead skin. “Are you here to kill me?”

“No. We want to help.”

He looks up at Max, and asks her, “Do you?”

Max doesn’t quite hear it as she asks him, “Just tell us what happened. What’s your name?”

“I think I was a banker… Or a car salesman”, he wearily says with a scratch of his scalp. It’s balder than it was when he last woke up. “Where’s my family?”

“They’re safe. With us.”, Max lies, trying to optimize the situation after several rewinds.

“What is my wife’s name?” He fails to tell her every time, almost maliciously. “I figured you didn’t know.”

Max puts an arm around the Old Man, helping him rise from his sheets. “We’re going to get you out of here. Away from all this.”

“What happened? What year is it?”

“2020.” It is as he saw from the Astral Plane. Dreams of the future, of time moving forward. Of flames and storms. Ghouls, shapes, walls, plagues. Death awaiting. “A lot’s changed. We’re going to help you.”

“No, no, allow me.” He grabs Max’s wrist with the grip of an army, and tosses her over his shoulder. But instead of crashing, she stands behind him, shaken and aiming a gun at him. Without hesitation, she shoots him in the back.

He bleeds, black blood like tar, and clutches the exit wound before turning to see Max’s stunned reaction. “Oh, human. Your toys mean nothing to u-”

Another bullet enters through the back of his skull, and the Old Man clutches his temples. He groans a distant and echoing grumble, as if he were in a cave or tunnel.

Max rushes over to Chloe - the shooter - and Daniel as the Old Man collapses to his knees. “Oh, shit.”, Chloe grumbles. She can see him recovering, rising to his feet and sealing his wounds.

The Old Man speaks, in a distorted and disassociated tongue: “We are many, in the form of one. Earthly weapons are but a prick upon our finger.”

Daniel asks the girls, “What do we do now?”

Max nods her head to Chloe and says, “Let me and Daniel deal with him. Call for evac.”

“Are you gonna be alright?”

Max snickers, “Of course.”

And then they fight. The Old Man lunges at the two heroes, with a ferocious pace in his step, only for Daniel to keep him frozen in place.

Max puts up her fists and starts punching at the Old Man - in his face, in the stomach, in the chest - and Daniel rushes to join her, still keeping their enemy trapped.

But a new voice calls out to Daniel: “Kick his ass, enano!”

His brother cheers him on with a fist bumping in the air. “Sean?”

Another fist quickly collides with Daniel’s cheek, sending him flying into a wall. It shatters, and he rests in confusion and pain.

Max dropkicks the Old Man across his bed, and he crashes against a table full of medicine. “Get up, Daniel!”, she says while trying to shake the boy back to consciousness.

“He won’t. He’s living the dream.” The Old Man raises his open palm, and aims it at Max. “And so are you.” Max begins to see a dream world. One without compromise.

But it doesn’t last long as she plops to the ground, like a corpse. The Old Man raises an eyebrow to this development, but it doesn’t take forever for Max to sweep her leg and knock the Old Man down on his back.

Recoiling in pain upon impact with the floor, the Old Man screams at her, “HOW?!”

Max kicks at the villain while he is still down, not taking any chance to hesitate. But she knows she doesn’t have long.

She looks back at Chloe as she rushes over to Daniel and hurries him away from the action. The two share a smile, and Daniel wakes up just in time to see it. But he also wakes just in time to see the Old Man rise to his feet once more.

The villain grabs Max by her hair with one hand. He whispers, enraged, “For the record… we were gonna let you go.”

With his other hand, he stabs a blade through Max’s spine and into her stomach. She coughs, and blood begins to spurt from her mouth. She struggles against the inevitability of her death, but not for long as she slowly goes limp. He tosses her aside, and leaves her there before setting his sights on Chloe and Daniel. Both are afraid, and both fear that this is the end.

Chloe puts herself in front of the young boy and yells at the Old Man, “Stay away from him!” She even pulls out a gun and aims it at the Old Man, but it doesn’t scare him.

The Old Man glares at the two with a blank look in his eyes. It grows more blank by the second. He freezes in place. And the two look at him, stuck in the moment. It isn’t Max’s doing - how would it be, anyways - but all his own.

He speaks with a fatherly tone full of worry: “Run.” Both Chloe and Daniel look at each other and back at the Old Man before he repeats himself by shouting, “Run for your lives!!!”

And so they do. Right down the hall they came in from, Daniel blows holes through the walls in their direct line of sight, getting them out easily.

Once they’re a good couple yards away from the Hospital, Chloe pulls out her radio and dials into it. “We’re out!”, she yells into the phone. “Blow it!”

A missile whistles through the early dawn sky, aimed straight at the Hospital. Seconds later, the building erupts in a fireball, lighting the town up a bright orange.

The Hospital lies in ruins, reduced to flame and rubble, and several Agents arrive on the scene to survey over the destruction that has befallen Beaver Creek.

Chloe notices that Daniel is shaking, traumatized by Max’s death, so she gives him a hug out of instinct. Mournfully, he tells her, “I’m sorry. Max, she… I’m so, so sorry. I should’ve done more.” He bats away tears from his face.

Chloe sighs and reassures him, “It’s alright, kid. Trust me. It’s gonna be okay. She’s actually okay.”

Daniel looks at her with confusion on his face. He throws his arms up and asks, “How?! I saw her, that guy- He stabbed her! And the Hospital exploded, and-”

Chloe hugs him tighter and answers, “Max has her tricks.” A grin grows on her face as an Agent clad in black gear approaches them. Chloe turns to face her and asks, “Everything clear?”

“It should be. But it’s not. Somehow, the Old Man survived that.” The soldier pulls off her helmet, revealing the face of Max Caulfield. Alive, well, and happy to kiss Chloe right away. After breaking apart, Max looks to Daniel and tells him with a small smile, “Sorry, Daniel. I know you’re freaked out right now.”

He quivers, full of perhaps misaimed rage, and yells, “WHAT! How did you survive that?!”

Max laughs and answers, “If I told you, you’d think I’m crazy.”

Daniel crosses his arms, visibly upset. “Probably! But… Don’t scare me like that!”

Something else decides to scare him and the other people at the scene: The Old Man pulls himself out of the rubble, his skin burnt and battered. But slowly, his wounds heal and he steps out of the destruction. He glares at the heroes who just fought him, and the Agents aiming their weapons at him. His eyes are unblinking and filled with quiet, seething anger.

He says nothing, opting instead to fly off into the night sky. He’s headed North.

Chloe holds Max and asks her, “Do you know where he’s headed next?”

Max nods her head. “Seattle, I imagine. He knows of the Chimera, and the Chimera probably knows of him. But those two have the situation under control.”

Both Chloe and Daniel ask the same question: “Who?”

“The women who asked about Victoria back at the house. They’re old friends of ours.”

Daniel asks, “Who’s Victoria?”

Chloe asks, “And what do they want with HER?”

Max answers, “She’s a friend of ours. And the Chimera wants what we all want… A reunion.” She looks up to the sky, filled with smoke and uncertainty. And yet, the Sun shines through it. And its rays shine brightly upon the quiet town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave comments and kudos!


End file.
